BACKGROUND
The aim of this research was to test whether social participation is associated with improvements in mood and well-being, and in particular to test whether social participation might moderate the chronic distress associated with high levels of neuroticism (N).

METHOD
A rural Australian sample of 394 adults (54.3% female) completed questionnaires and participated in follow-up interviews. Social participation was indexed by community group membership, and operationalised for analysis in two forms: extent (number of group memberships) and presence (zero vs. one or more memberships). Mood was measured as Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) as rated on the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and well-being was measured with Diener's Satisfaction with Life (SWL) questionnaire. Items from Goldberg's International Personality Item Pool were used to measure N.

RESULTS
The extent of social participation was significantly associated with all three mood/well-being variables in bivariate analyses, and remained as a significant net predictor of PA and NA (beta = 0.11, P < 0.05, beta = -0.13, P < 0.05) when modeled with age, gender and income. In parallel, categorical social participation was found to be significantly associated with PA, NA and SWL in bivariate analyses and in multivariate analyses controlling for age, gender and income (beta = 0.11, P < 0.05, beta = -0.15, P < 0.01 and beta = 0.11, P < 0.05, respectively). The interaction term N*Social interaction was significantly correlated with NA in bivariate analyses involving both continuous (r = -0.14, P < 0.01) and categorical (r = -0.13, P < 0.01) measures of social participation, and in its continuous form remained a significant net predictor of NA after controlling for the main effects of N and Social participation (beta = -0.09, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The present findings extend upon existing evidence that social participation tends to be positively associated with mental health by demonstrating the predicted effect across a comprehensive set of mood/well-being variables. Preliminary evidence was also obtained that social participation may serve as a moderator of the chronic distress associated with N. It is concluded that further research seeking to confirm the causal direction of the identified pathways is warranted.


: In early postnatal development, growth of adipose tissue is due to both cellular hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Adipose cell (adipocyte) hypertrophy is the major mechanism in fattening of ruminants grown to market weight, although evidence is accumulating that preadipose cells can proliferate postnatally, even in mature animals. In interfasicular adipose tissue (marbling), however, small adipose cells are present and their number makes a positive contribution to the size of this fat depot in ruminants of market weight. Present information does not indicate whether these small cells are newly synthesized cells or are cells that differentiated early in postnatal development and fill with lipid at some later time. Limitations on detecting small adipose cells in cell-counting techniques are partly responsible for conflicting conclusions on the cellular basis for adiposity. Nutritional modification of adipose cell number has been reported in rodents. However, the extreme nutritional modifications required to alter cell number have little practical application in the growth of ruminants for meat production. Adipose cells of various sizes respond differently in the esterification and synthesis of fatty acids. The greater rates of lipid synthesis from acetate in large adipose cells may be related to increased uptake of substrate in cells with a large surface area.


Abstract. Global circulation models (GCMs) are the best tool to understand
climate change, as they attempt to represent all the important Earth
system processes, including anthropogenic perturbation through
fossil fuel burning. However, GCMs are computationally very
expensive, which limits the number of simulations that can be
made. Pattern scaling is an emulation technique that takes advantage
of the fact that local and seasonal changes in surface climate are
often approximately linear in the rate of warming over land and
across the globe. This allows interpolation away from a limited number of
available GCM simulations, to assess alternative future emissions
scenarios. In this paper, we present a climate pattern-scaling set
consisting of spatial climate change patterns along with parameters
for an energy-balance model that calculates the amount of global
warming. The set, available for download, is derived from 22 GCMs of
the WCRP CMIP3 database, setting the basis for similar eventual
pattern development for the CMIP5 and forthcoming CMIP6
ensemble. Critically, it extends the use of the IMOGEN (Integrated
Model Of Global Effects of climatic aNomalies) framework to enable
scanning across full uncertainty in GCMs for impact studies. Across
models, the presented climate patterns represent consistent global
mean trends, with a maximum of 4 (out of 22) GCMs exhibiting
the opposite sign to the global trend per variable (relative
humidity). The described new climate regimes are generally warmer,
wetter (but with less snowfall), cloudier and windier, and have
decreased relative humidity. Overall, when averaging individual
performance across all variables, and without considering
co-variance, the patterns explain one-third of regional change in
decadal averages (mean percentage variance explained, PVE, 34.25±5.21 ), but the signal in some models exhibits much more
linearity (e.g. MIROC3.2(hires): 41.53) than in others (GISS_ER:
22.67). The two most often considered variables, near-surface
temperature and precipitation, have a PVE of 85.44±4.37 and
 14.98±4.61 , respectively. We also provide an example
assessment of a terrestrial impact (changes in mean runoff) and
compare projections by the IMOGEN system, which has one land surface
model, against direct GCM outputs, which all have alternative
representations of land functioning. The latter is noted as an
additional source of uncertainty. Finally, current and potential
future applications of the IMOGEN version 2.0 modelling system in the
areas of ecosystem modelling and climate change impact assessment
are presented and discussed.


Sepsis, shock, multiple trauma, and burns are often associated with altered metabolism characterized by severe catabolism, wasting of the lean body mass, immune dysfunction, and compromised wound healing. Nutrition support is one of the mainstays in the management of these critically ill patients and is aimed at minimizing these complications. The purpose of this article is to compare stress hypermetabolism and starvation metabolism, to review current recommendations for the provision of energy and substrate to the critically ill patient, and to review pertinent literature regarding enteral vs parenteral nutrition. Finally, this article will provide a brief overview of new and future therapies with emphasis on specific substrates and growth factors and the potential for their use in the critically ill patient.


Linear dispersion properties and waves of collisionless plasma current sheet at small scales are discussed, using 25dimensional, collisionless and incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models with the full electron pressure tensor. General dispersion relations are very complex. Two special cases, i.e., the central region of current sheet and the electronβ*e=0, are analytically studied here. The main results are as follows. (1) In the ioninertial region (kdi>1), there are fast magnetosonic-kinetic Alfven waves and obliquely Alfven-whistler waves, and the electron magnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) model is a precise MHD model. In the long wavelength region (kdi<1), there are Alfven waves and ion acoustic waves, and the ideal MHD model is valid. (2) When electron β*e=0, the results drop off some modes, e.g., the fast magnetosonic-kinetic Alfven wave and ion acoustic wave. This case is not exactly valid for the current sheet plasma. (3) At central region of current sheet, results from both of physical models have fast magnetosonic kinetic Alfven waves.


Monoclonal gammopathies are characterized by serum monoclonal component (MC) plus an intact immunoglobulin and a free light chain (FLC), or a combination of both. The measurement of FLC with Freelite® is the standard practice recommended by International Myeloma Working Group guidelines. Recently, Hevylite® heavy/light chains (HLC) assays were introduced to specifically target junctional epitopes between the heavy and light chains of intact immunoglobulins, allowing the independent quantification of the involved (MC) and uninvolved (polyclonal immunoglobulin background) HLC isotype. Between January 2012 and March 2014, 90 patients were examined: 49 multiple myeloma (MM), 6 smoldering MM (SMM) and 35 monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Of these 90 patients, 300 samples were collected at different times. The diagnostic and monitoring contribution of Hevylite A and G assays was assessed in all 90 patients examined. Additionally, 3 representative cases were selected. The Hevylite absolute values and ratio demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity with respect to serum protein electrophoresis and serum immunofixation. The combined use of Hevylite A and G with Freelite was particularly useful in dubious cases with more than one MC or with co-migrating components, as well as in the course of monitoring to assess the independent change of FLC and HLC, possibly reflecting the presence of clonal heterogeneity in the cohort. From this study, it can be concluded that FLC and HLC are independent, useful markers to monitor the MC and to assess with greater specificity and sensitivity the effect of therapy, thereby providing clinical support. Further studies are required to assess the prognostic potential of Hevylite in MGUS and SMM.


One of the main challenges in sustainability discourse is its multifaceted nature often requiring that many different disciplines must cooperate in order to achieve progress. This issue also concerns sustainability education. In the article, we highlighted the experiences from the international cooperation of university teachers and researchers with highly diverse professional backgrounds who worked together on developing educational materials for university students in sustainability-oriented courses. The study is based on qualitative, participatory evaluation research, applying two rounds of open-ended questionnaires distributed to the same respondents (n = 18). For the analysis, we used the open-coding procedure for identifying the main categories. The results show some of the opportunities and barriers that emerged in the process of this cooperation. In particular, we discuss the issues related to the high heterogeneity of the group, such as the clashes of the different perspectives on the topics covered, group dynamics issues, trust, facilitation challenges, and also opportunities that such heterogeneity offers. We highlight the importance of open reflectivity in sustainability-oriented educational projects as the key to their successful implementation. Finally, we believe that results of this participatory study are useful in designing new projects aiming at further improvement of academic education in sustainability and sustainable development.


Abstract : The large impedance difference between air and most solids prevents significant energy transfer from incident acoustic waves across the air-material interface. Refraction also plays a role in preventing acoustic transmission, as the wave speed difference between air and solid materials results in an increase of the resulting propagation angles, creating near-field pressure distributions in the solid material. By utilizing evanescent pressure distributions, which decay normal to the usual direction of propagation and are represented as plane waves propagating with complex angles, energy propagation through the interface can be increased in the subsonic region of wave propagation: i.e., where waves typically do not propagate into a material with any effectiveness. By using an array of sources, it is possible to produce evanescent pressure distributions in the solid. The way in which the characteristics of this array of sources affect the efficiency of the generation of evanescent pressure distributions are explored. Because high impedance materials can be paired to a lower impedance materials of interest to impede acoustical energy transmission, the wave propagation through multi-layer materials must be considered to give an full accounting of power transmission into structures. A model for wave propagation in multi-layer systems of solids and fluids was developed using wave potentials in each layer, allowing for coupling between material types and calculation of inter-layer states. By using wavenumber-frequency analysis, it is possible to target specific components in the multi-layer system and understand the particular wave-types that cause energy propagation into the system.


To determine the duration of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) carriage, we studied 21 CPE carriers for »1 year. Mean carriage duration was 86 days; probability of decolonization in 1 year was 98.5%, suggesting that CPE-carriers' status can be reviewed yearly. Prolonged carriage was associated with use of antimicrobial drugs.


The pursuit of human needs and demands is placing more pressure on land resources than ever before. The challenge of feeding 7 billion people is increasingly competing with rising demands for materials and biofuels. Deforestation and land degradation are among the pressing outcomes of these trends. Drivers of environmental change—including population growth, economic activity, consumption, urbanization, trade, conflict, and governance—clearly play a role in aggravating or mitigating these pressures on land. Despite advances in understanding causality in complex systems, navigating the interactions between these drivers remains a major challenge. This paper analyzes and visualizes the relationships between multiple, interacting drivers of environmental change and specific pressures on land-based ecosystems. Drawing on experience from the development of the Drivers and Land chapters of the UN Environment Programme's Fifth Global Environment Outlook report (GEO-5), we use a series of Kiviat diagrams to illustrate the relative influence of key drivers on selected pressures on land. When individual diagrams are overlaid, patterns of influence emerge that can provide insight into where policy responses might best be targeted. We propose that, subject to some limitations, the Kiviat exercise can provide an accessible and potentially valuable "knowledge-intermediary" tool to help link science-based information to policy action.


We present a 6‐year‐old child with intraocular and extraocular mass and high intraocular pressure. The tumor mass involved a disorganized anterior segment and extended through the medial cornea and sclera. A preliminary diagnosis of retinoblastoma with extraocular extension was made. An exenteration of the left globe and orbital tissue was performed. Histological examination showed that the lesion, which occupied the posterior chamber, involved the ciliary body, extending into the iris, sclera and cornea, projecting beyond the cornea anteriorly and extending to the retina posteriorly. The tumor cells were diffusely immunoreactive to vimentin, neuron specific enolase and CD 138. The medulloepithelioma cells were focally positive to cytokeratin (AE1/AE3), cytokeratin 18, CD56,CD57, S100, HMB‐45 and bcl2 while areas of retinoblastic differentiation showed diffuse immunoreactivity to synaptophysin, neurofilament and CD138 with focal immunoreactivity to calretinin. All tumor cells showed no immunoreactivity to cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 20, epithelial membrane antigen, carcinoembryonic antigen, desmin, GFAP, and chromogranin. Nuclear staining for P53 was seen in 80% of tumor cells. The ki‐67 index was 90%. The tumor was described as malignant intraocular non‐teratoid medulloepithelioma with retinoblastic differentiation arising from the ciliary body. Tumor satellites were seen in the adjacent periocular soft tissue. The treatment involved exenteration of the left globe and orbital tissue with secondary skin graft following chemotherapy. The patient is well and has no recurrence after 1 year of treatment. We report that medulloepithelioma can present as a case of infantile glaucoma, can show signs of intraocular calcifications and can show retinoblastic differentiation.


: Azlocillin, an acylureido penicillin with bactericidal activity, is particularly effective against Pseudomonas, enterococci and Haemophilus influenzae. It is also very active against E. coli, various Proteus species and Bacteroides. Pharmacokinetic studies were carried out in 138 children of various ages (prematures, newborns, infants, schoolchildren) after administering 50-75-100 mg/kg/ body weight azlocillin via the i.v. or i.m. routes; The constant of elimination and the distribution volumes were calculated besides the serum levels. In prematures and newborns, therapeutically effective serum levels were obtained on administering 50 or 100 mg/kg body weight twice daily. Infants and older children required 100 or 75 mg/kg body weight t.i.d. Determination of azlocillin in the bronchial secretion after i.v. doses of 75 mg/kg body weight showed good elimination. Azlocillin was always identified up to the 5th hour post injectionem. Inspite of parenteral administration, azlocillin was identified in different concentrations in the meconium as well. 39 children were treated with azlocillin, 35 of whom had Pseudomonas infection. Very good results were obtained in infections of the urinary tract, wound infections, conjunctivitis, dacryocystitis and in one case of meningitis. Bronchopulmonary diseases did not take an equally good course, but in these cases the conditions had not been favourable. No serious side effects were revealed by testing several laboratory parameters.


Growing international commerce in high technology products has increased the potential for cross border patent disputes. However, there is no consensus regarding the nature, structure and change of patent disputes in the context of international competition. Although patent protection is intended to promise a unifying measure of commercial protection, entrepreneurial practices may influence its efficiency. Investigations into how patent enforcement functions effectively and what drives competitors' decision to litigate are called for. This paper develops theories concerning the theoretical evolution of strategic management in patent enforcement from a firms' strategic international context. This paper begins with a literature review and discussions of previous empirical studies dealing with patent enforcement strategies and a framework is proposed. Cross-border trade disputes are highlighted and insights from various empirical studies are synthesized into an integrative framework that addresses the cost of litigation, characteristics of patentees, value of patent and innovation activities, and the development of six testable propositions.


The behavior of stock exchanges around the world has an important role in the financial development of countries. The Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV, for its acronym in Spanish) is the financial entity in Mexico where investors build and manage investment portfolios to generate profit. Financial time series forecasting is an important problem for investment portfolios creation and optimization because it allows them to have a prediction of the value of investment assets over time, therefore reducing at some extent the uncertainty of these operations. Classical models, such as ARIMA, artificial neural networks and support vector machines, are usually used as forecasting tools. In this paper, we forecast financial time series of the BMV using a hybrid parallel algorithm that employs both simulated annealing (SA) and support vector machines for regression (SVR). Finally, the resulting Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE) of this hybrid algorithm is compared with that of an ARIMA model.


ABSTRACT Polluted agricultural soils are a serious problem for food safety, with phytoremediation being the most favorable alternative from the environmental perspective. However, this methodology is generally time-consuming and requires the cessation of agriculture. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate two potential phytoextractor plants (the native species Bidens pilosa and Tagetes minuta) co-cropped with lettuce growing on agricultural lead-polluted soils. The concentrations of Pb, as well as of other metals, were investigated in the phytoextractors, crop species, and in soils, with the potential risk to the health of consumers being estimated. The soil parameters pH, EC, organic matter percentage and bioavailable lead showed a direct relationship with the accumulation of Pb in roots. In addition, the concentration of Pb in roots of native species was closely related to Fe (B. pilosa, r = 0.81; T. minuta r = 0.75), Cu (T. minuta, r = 0.93), Mn (B. pilosa, r = 0.89) and Zn (B. pilosa, r = 0.91; T. minuta, r = 0.91). Our results indicate that the interaction between rhizospheres increased the phytoextraction of lead, which was accompanied by an increase in the biomass of the phytoextractor species. However, the consumption of lettuce still revealed a toxicological risk from Pb in all treatments.


This paper introduces a promising property in which the transmitter of an OFDM system can utilize an N-point IFFT operation to build the time-domain symbols of a KN-point IFFT operation. Based on this property, we propose a flexible OFDM structure. This structure will support uplink applications which include many transmitters using different numbers of subcarriers and one receiver with just one IFFT/FFT module with the subcarriers of least common multiple (LCM) for the number of subcarriers of all the transmitters. Therefore it reduces the design complexities of the receiver and increases the compatible characteristics for consumer electronics (CE). Compared with the original OFDM system, the proposed system improves the performance of the packet error ratio (PER) and the bit error ratio (BER) performance by using the appropriate K. In addition, the proposed structure can be designed to enlarge the bandwidth efficiency of the system and improve the performance of channel estimation compared with the OFDM/TDM system.


OBJECTIVES
To better select for patients who most likely will benefit from cardiac surgery among those with infective endocarditis (IE), we aimed to identify preoperative markers associated with poor outcome after cardiac surgery for IE, and to evaluate the accuracy of European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II to predict mortality.

METHODS
We enrolled all adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery during the acute phase of definite IE (Duke Criteria) in two referral centres for cardiac surgery. Patients were identified through intensive care unit (ICU) electronic databases, and data were collected from medical charts on standardized questionnaire.

RESULTS
Between 2002 and 2013, 149 patients (117 males), with a median age of 64 years [interquartile range 52-73], fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Main complications before surgery were left ventricular dysfunction (23%), central nervous system symptomatic events (34%) and septic shock (24%). Most patients (95%) presented with valve regurgitation, and 49% had perivalvular abscess. Surgery was performed with a median delay of 12 days [5-24] after IE diagnosis, and mean EuroSCORE II was 15.8 (13.4-18.1). In-hospital mortality was 21%. Preoperative variables associated with mortality in multivariate analysis were obesity [odds ratio (OR) 3.67 [1.10-12.19], P = 0.03], vegetation >15 mm (OR 6.72 [1.46-30.98], P = 0.01), septic shock (OR 4.87 [1.67-14.28], P = 0.004) and mechanical prosthetic valve IE (OR 4.99 [1.72-28.57], P = 0.007). EuroSCORE II underestimated mortality in patients with predicted mortality over 10%.

CONCLUSION
Factors independently predictive of mortality after cardiac surgery for IE are obesity, septic shock, large vegetation and a mechanical prosthetic valve IE. EuroSCORE II underestimates post-cardiac surgery mortality in patients with IE.


This project applies superfluid helium droplets in two big areas: spectroscopy and nanoparticles formation. Helium droplets, consisted of more than 10 helium atoms, provide a non-friction and very cold (~0.37 K) environment for clusters/nanoparticles growth, which offers unique advantages as a medium in applications of both spectroscopy and nanostructures formation. By sequentially adding NaCl and water molecules, the dissolution process of NaCl in water can be experimentally studied for the first time. This is achieved by recording the infra-red spectra of NaCl(H2O)n (1 ≤ n ≤ 7) complexes in O-H stretching region in combination with ab initio calculations. In particular, two bands have been assigned to dissolution of NaCl in water. The existence of quantum vortices in helium droplets has been firmly evident from spherical Ag nanoparticles formed in a chain. Quantum vortices provide a new route for the formation of one-dimensional nanostructures, which has been exploited in the fabrication of novel nanowires. Finally the pioneering work on the fabrication of both antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic nanomaterials is reported for the first time, taking Cr and Ni as examples respectively. It is found that we can force ferromagnetic ordering in magnetic materials in superfluid helium. In particular, antiferromagnetic chromium has been discovered to convert to ferromagnetic, and the magnetism of ferromagnetic materials can have hugely enhanced magnetic moments that are close to the theoretical limit. This will have potential for applications in biomedical science, data storage and energy efficient technologies in the longer term.


Echinoderms are a diverse and successful phylum of exclusively marine invertebrates that have an extensive fossil record dating back to Cambrian Stage 3 (Zamora and Rahman, 2014). There are five extant classes of echinoderms (asteroids, crinoids, echinoids, holothurians, and ophiuroids), but more than 20 extinct groups, all of which are restricted to the Paleozoic (Sumrall and Wray, 2007). As a result, to fully appreciate the modern diversity of echinoderms, it is necessary to study their rich fossil record.

Throughout their existence, echinoderms have been an important component of marine ecosystems. Because of their relatively good fossil record, researchers have been able to reconstruct echinoderm diversity through geological time (e.g., Smith and Benson, 2013). Moreover, the echinoderm skeleton is rich in characters for rigorous analyses of disparity, functional morphology, and phylogeny, providing the means to tackle large-scale evolutionary questions (e.g., Ausich and Peters, 2005; Gahn and Baumiller, 2010; Kroh and Smith, 2010; Deline and Ausich, 2011). Echinoderms are known to modify their physiology, ecology, and distribution in response to fluctuations in salinity, pH, or temperature, so fossil forms may be useful indicators of past and future environmental change (Aronson et al., 2009). Taken together, these aspects make echinoderms an ideal group for addressing fundamental questions about the history of life on Earth.

On June 15–16, 2015, around 50 echinodermologists (Fig. 1) from 12 different countries attended the Progress in Echinoderm Palaeobiology meeting in Zaragoza, Spain, which was hosted by the Geological Survey of Spain and the University of Zaragoza. This meeting was followed by a five-day field trip (June 17–21, 2015) that included stops at the most remarkable Paleozoic …


Distinct morphological differences between and within sexes may reflect reproductive behaviors that have evolved under natural and sexual selection. In some members of the Eurycea bislineata (Two-Lined Salamander) species complex, inter- and intrasexual variation in head morphology result from secondary sexual characters used in locating, courting, and guarding mates. In populations of Eurycea cf. wilderae (Blue-Ridge Two-Lined Salamander), males possess one of two suites of morphological traits corresponding to alternative reproductive tactics. "Searching" males appear to be adapted for locating and courting females in terrestrial habitats and are characterized by the seasonal development of mental glands, protruding premaxillary teeth, and elongate cirri. "Guarding" males appear to be adapted for aggressively guarding females in aquatic habitats, lack all three aforementioned traits, and are instead characterized by seasonally enlarged jaw musculature. Traditionally, males have been categorized by treating these traits as binary (i.e., present or absent), but this fails to capture any continuous variation. Here, we evaluated the utility of geometric morphometric methods to quantify and describe differences in head morphology among female, searching male, and guarding male E. cf. wilderae. In the left-lateral view, we found significant pairwise differences among all three morph–sex groups. In the ventral view, we found significant pairwise differences between searching males and guarding males and between searching males and females, but not between guarding males and females. Deformation grids clearly demonstrated the enlarged jaw musculature of guarding males and wider, flatter rostrum of searching males. Our results demonstrate utility of geometric morphometric methods for describing head shape differences among these alternative reproductive tactics and provide baseline data for future studies of spatial and temporal variation.


During larval development in Drosophila melanogaster, transcriptional activation of target genes by sterol regulatory element-binding protein (dSREBP) is essential for survival. In all cases studied to date, activation of SREBPs requires sequential proteolysis of the membrane-bound precursor by site-1 protease (S1P) and site-2 protease (S2P). Cleavage by S2P, within the first membrane-spanning helix of SREBP, releases the transcription factor. In contrast to flies lacking dSREBP, flies lacking dS2P are viable. The Drosophila effector caspase Drice cleaves dSREBP, and cleavage requires an Asp residue at position 386, in the cytoplasmic juxtamembrane stalk. The initiator caspase Dronc does not cleave dSREBP, but animals lacking dS2P require both drice and dronc to complete development. They do not require Dcp1, although this effector caspase also can cleave dSREBP in vitro. Cleavage of dSREBP by Drice releases the amino-terminal transcription factor domain of dSREBP to travel to the nucleus where it mediates the increased transcription of target genes needed for lipid synthesis and uptake. Drice-dependent activation of dSREBP explains why flies lacking dS2P are viable, and flies lacking dSREBP itself are not.


The concept of mimetic realism—how it functions in literature and its representational value—comes into sharp relief during the period when the First World War ensues. This dissertation proposes that the magnitude of atrocities caused by the First World War presents a crisis of representation such that the classic theory of realist representation comes into question. In response to the ultimate dystopia created by trench warfare, a variety of writers attempt to produce realistic portraits of the war while photography is widely used to show readers the allegedly most authentic version of the war front. In the study of those writing practices by journalists, novelists, and soldiers and of visual media by photojournalists, some key questions arise about the authorial discourse of war: who constructs it, how is it constructed, and by which means do these discourses secure the survival and longevity of one version of a war's history and not another?

I concentrate on texts produced by journalists, British literary writers—exemplified primarily by Virginia Woolf—and soldiers, who were prolific in their correspondence with family members on the home front, the chronicling of their experiences in diaries, and in reflections recorded in postwar memoirs. In all cases, I provide close-readings of texts to discern the ways each player is documenting the experience of war and in which ways each negotiates his or her writing practices within the lens of classic literary realism. I find that discursive practices become distinct according to a writer's geographical proximity to the war front and are distinguished from the classic style of realism. I observe that journalism produces objective realism, the modern novelist produces mytho-synaesthetic realism, and soldiers produce synaesthetic realism. An examination of photography's ocular realism in the context of war introduces the concept of the documentary record. A documentary photograph stretches the concept of realism as a literary style such that the commensurability of the real and its representational media comes to depend upon acknowledging the ability and willingness of a public to read the inconsumable, such as the horrific and traumatizing outcomes of mechanized warfare on the human body.


The selective mechanisms operating in regulatory regions of bacterial genomes are poorly understood. We have previously shown that, in most bacterial genomes, regulatory regions contain high densities of sigma70 promoter-like signals that are significantly above the densities detected in nonregulatory genomic regions. In order to investigate the molecular evolutionary forces that operate in bacterial regulatory regions and how they affect the observed redundancy of promoter-like signals, we have undertaken a comparative analysis across the completely sequenced genomes of enteric gamma-proteobacteria. This analysis detects significant positional conservation of promoter-like signal clusters across enterics, some times in spite of strong primary sequence divergence. This suggests that the conservation of the nature and exact position of specific nucleotides is not necessarily the priority of selection for maintaining the transcriptional function in these bacteria. We have further characterized the structural conservation of the regulatory regions of dnaQ and crp across all enterics. These two regions differ in essentiality and mode of regulation, the regulation of crp being more complex and involving interactions with several transcription factors. This results in substantially different modes of evolution, with the dnaQ region appearing to evolve under stronger purifying selection and the crp region showing the likely effects of stabilizing selection for a complex pattern of gene expression. The higher flexibility of the crp region is consistent with the observed less conservation of global regulators in evolution. Patterns of regulatory evolution are also found to be markedly different in endosymbiotic bacteria, in a manner consistent with regulatory regions suffering some level of degradation, as has been observed for many other characters in these genomes. Therefore, the mode of evolution of bacterial regulatory regions appears to be highly dependent on both the lifestyle of the bacterium and the specific regulatory requirements of different genes. In fact, in many bacteria, the mode of evolution of genes requiring significant physiological adaptability in expression levels may follow patterns similar to those operating in the more complex regulatory regions of eukaryotic genomes.


Purpose – This paper aims to provide an overview of organizational changes in the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) Investigations Branch and how the Branch has adapted to the paradigm of intelligence‐led policing. The paper also reports on interviews conducted to assess the impact on key staff affected by the change, through the medium of a drug‐gang investigation, Operation Nine Connect. Design/methodology/approach – Both semi‐structured and less formal interviews were conducted with 20 detectives, intelligence analysts and managers. Extensive quotes are employed to demonstrate key points. Furthermore, content analysis of documents related to organizational change in the NJSP and to a large drug‐gang intelligence operation was conducted. Findings – The paper identifies the key tenets of intelligence‐led policing, and describes progress made both organizationally and culturally to move the Investigations Branch to an intelligence‐led policing mindset. Organizational successes were reported, but more limited success was achieved in relation to changing police culture. Practical implications – The paper clarifies the meaning of intelligence‐led policing, and identifies potential road‐blocks to implementation for police departments wishing to move to intelligence‐led policing. Originality/value – The paper identifies the key tenets of intelligence‐led policing, outlines how these were used to determine greater geographic focus in the organizational structure of the New Jersey State Police Investigations Branch, and is a rare examination of the internal workings of a state police investigations branch in relation to a drug‐gang investigation. The paper will be of interest to police executives and managers, and intelligence professionals.


ABSTRACT MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs, are negative regulators of gene expression and play important roles in gene regulation in the heart. To examine the role of miRNAs in the expression of the two isoforms of the cardiac myosin heavy chain (MHC) gene, α- and β-MHC, which regulate cardiac contractility, endogenous miRNAs were downregulated in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) using lentivirus-mediated small interfering RNA (siRNA) against Dicer, an essential enzyme for miRNA biosynthesis, and MHC expression levels were examined. As a result, Dicer siRNA could downregulate endogenous miRNAs simultaneously and the β-MHC gene but not α-MHC, which implied that specific miRNAs could upregulate the β-MHC gene. Among 19 selected miRNAs, miR-27a was found to most strongly upregulate the β-MHC gene but not α-MHC. Moreover, β-MHC protein was downregulated by silencing of endogenous miR-27a. Through a bioinformatics screening using TargetScan, we identified thyroid hormone receptor β1 (TRβ1), which negatively regulates β-MHC transcription, as a target of miR-27a. Moreover, miR-27a was demonstrated to modulate β-MHC gene regulation via thyroid hormone signaling and to be upregulated during the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells or in hypertrophic hearts in association with β-MHC gene upregulation. These findings suggested that miR-27a regulates β-MHC gene expression by targeting TRβ1 in cardiomyocytes.


Substrate noise injection is evaluated for a 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS technology, to determine the mechanisms that contribute to substrate crosstalk. At the transistor level, we find that impact ionization current and capacitive coupling from the junctions are the most significant contributors to substrate current injection. An investigation of substrate fluctuations at a circuit level included switching transients, capacitive damping, and separate substrate biasing. This investigation revealed that voltage transients on power-supply lines can be the dominant source of substrate fluctuations. Finally, a statistical analysis of signal cancellation in an integrated circuit was performed. The results indicate that more cancellation will take place for the high-frequency noise components than for the average and low-frequency components. As a consequence, the dc and low-frequency components of the transient that result from an individual switching event can not be neglected even if they are a relatively small fraction of the single transient.


The swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) is one of the least studied North American lag0- morphs; a better understanding of th.e habitat types it uses will improve management of this species: We studied microhabitat characteristics of sites associated With specific behaviors of the swamp rabbit. During spring-summer (15 April-1 October) and fall- " . winter (1 October-15 April) we examined sites used by rabbits for fecal deposition, ' browsing, and daytime resting. Sites were located in 3 different macrohabitats (mixed pine-hardwood upland forest, mature bottomland forest, and cut-over bottomland forest). • We compared the microhabitat characteristics of thesesitesto the same measurements from a random sample of plots using logistic regression in each'i_acrohabitat and season. sites used for fecal deposition were distinguishab|e from random points based on the presence of downed logs, closed canopies, and greater basal area. Browse sites could • not be predicted in 3 of the 5 combinations of season and macrohabitat. Additionally, • we did not observe consistent relationships with microhabitat characteristics for brow- sing as each of the Significant models included different predictive variables. Daytime . resting sites were distinguishable from random points based on positive associations with percentage of the ground covered by shrubs and downed treetops, as well as herbaceous vegetation and negative associations with canopy closure and basal area. These results demonstrate for swamp rabbits that microhabitat features of a forest, such as canopy gaps, may be associated positively with certain activities and associated negatively with other behaviors. This implies, that microhabitat analyses for swamp rabbits and possibly other wildlife species can be improved by stratifying observations according to activity or spe- cific behaviors prior to analysis.


OBJECTIVES: to compare the acute and chronic effects of ethanol on the neural development, by analysis of the ontogenetic neural structure of mammals. METHODS: searches were performed in the following electronic databases: MEDLINE, SciElo, PubMed, LILACS, CAPES periodical, and the Open Journal System. The descriptors used were: "chronic ethanol toxicity", "chronic alcohol toxicity", "acute ethanol toxicity", "acute alcohol", "neural ontogenic development", "neuronal migration disturbances", "neural structure". The following inclusion criteria were used: articles published between 2003 and 2007, some classic articles in the field and an important neuropsychology textbook. RESULTS: the analysis of papers revealed that, although several studies of the chronic effects of ethanol exposure on the mammalian nervous system have been conducted, only a few have investigated the acute effects of ethanol on specific days of gestation, and these studies have revealed important disorders relating to the cerebral tissue. CONCLUSIONS: it should be recommended that women refrain from the consumption of ethanol during gestational phase to protect the fetus' health. Furthermore, the acute consumption of ethanol by women nearing the eighth or ninth week of gestation has been shown to be potentially harmful to the nervous tissue of the fetus.


Industrial use of biotechnology is bringing about new products and processes aimed at the use of renewable resources, as well as the application og green technologies with low energy consumption and environmentally healthy practices. Textile processing is a growing industry that traditionally has used a lot of water, energy and harsh chemicals. Due to the ever-growing costs for water and energy worldwide investigations are carriedout to substitute conventional chemical textile processes by environment-friendly andeconomically attractive bioprocesses using enzymes.This work represents a review of enzyme applications in textile preparatory processes. After hot bleaching enzymatically pre-treated cotton exhibits similar oreven better properties compared to conventionally desized, alkaline scoured andbleached cotton. The combined use of the enzymes allows to omit the alkaline scouringwithout a loss of quality in the finishing result. The described enzymatic procedure isaccompanied by a significant lower demand of energy, water, chemicals, time andtherefore costs. So it has advantages as well in terms of ecology as in economy.


Introduction: Current methods for drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are either costly or slow. As the prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains increases, the need for fast, reliable, and inexpensive methods that can also be applied in settings with scarce resources is obvious. Aim: To determine the prevalence of multi drug resistant tuberculosis by a simple, rapid and cost effective technique. Materials and Method: 100 sputum samples from sputum smear positive patients at RNTCP centre were taken and subjected to drug susceptibility testing for all the first line anti tubercular drugs by modified slide culture method. Samples were also subjected to conventional culture on LJ media. Results: From the 100 smear positive sputum samples, culture of M. tuberculosis was obtained by both LJ medium and modified slide culture for all the samples. Out of the 100 samples, 94 were sensitive for all the drugs, 04 were found to be multidrug resistant and 02 resistant only to isoniazid. Conclusions: The modified slide culture technique was found to be a safe, rapid and cost effective technique and can used for drug susceptibility testing especially in resource limited settings.


The recently discovered Serra Branca amazonite pegmatite in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, is an evolved niobium-yttrium-fluorine (NYF) granitic pegmatite, which belongs to the Vieirópolis pegmatite field, the first NYF pegmatite field described from the Borborema Province. The pegmatite is an unusually large resource (>300,000 tons) of intensely colored amazonite megacrysts up to 2 m in size, exploited in an open pit since ca. 2010 as an ornamental stone and gemological material. This study provides the first mineralogical and geochemical characterization of the Serra Branca amazonite pegmatite and its mineralogy, which are further compared with the mineralogy and composition of other NYF pegmatites. The Serra Branca pegmatite forms an approximately 800 m-long and up to 3 m-thick flat-dipping sheet that consists of two distinct structural-mineralogical zones with complex relationships: (1) the massive, megacrystic amazonite zone forming commonly in the upper part of the dike and (2) the fine-grained albite zone commonly occurring at the bottom of the dike. The amazonite zone, which comprises ca. 75 vol.% of the pegmatite body, is composed of amazonite and quartz, the major constituents, with accessory biotite, helvine, galena, ilmenite, hematite, columbite-(Mn), phenakite, titanite, magnetite, and rutile. The albite zone consists of saccharoidal albite and quartz and accessory spessartine, ilmenite, zircon, columbite-(Mn), pyrochlore, and fluorite. A younger minor intrusive pegmatitic unit composed of megacrystic euhedral amazonite and quartz and platy albite (cleavelandite) postdates the formation of the amazonite and albite zones. Geochemical analysis of the bulk pegmatite, amazonite zone, and albite zone shows that the bulk pegmatite and the amazonite zone have similar compositions, with high trace-element contents of Ba, Be, Rb, Sr, and Pb, whereas the albite zone is enriched in Zn, Nb, Zr, Ga, and Hf. The amazonite and albite zones display some similarities in terms of major elements, the presence of HFSE minerals, and the distribution of incompatible and REE, which indicates that the two zones originated from the same melt. The amazonite crystals are enriched in Rb, Pb, Sr, Cs, Ba, Tl, Fe, and Ga, characterizing the Serra Branca pegmatite as an evolved NYF pegmatite. This conclusion is confirmed by the low K/Rb ratio of biotite of ∼5.7. Higher Li and Ga and lower Sr and Ba in the amazonite of the minor unit suggests that this melt was even more highly fractionated than the melt of the first emplacement stage.


Abstract Extra-European studies report high rates of multi-drug resistant bacteria colonization of healthcare workers' mobile phones in intensive care units. We aimed to assess the prevalence of bacterial colonization of healthcare workers' mobile phones in an intensive care unit in France and the effectiveness of a sanitization product. We designed a prospective, monocentric study in a 15-bed intensive care unit within a 300-bed private hospital. Bacterial colonization was assessed on 56 healthcare workers' mobile phones immediately before and 5 min after sanitization of the phones with bactericidal wipes. The mobile phones of 42 administrative staff acted as controls. All mobile phones in both groups were colonized. Healthcare workers' phones had a higher number of different bacterial species per phone (2.45 ± 1.34 vs. 1.81 ± 0.74, p = 0.02). Colonization with pathogens did not differ significantly between healthcare workers' and controls' phones (39.3% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.37). Excluding coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus aureus was the most common pathogen found in both groups (19.6% and 11.9%, p = 0.41). Only one healthcare workers' mobile phone was colonized by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and no other multi-drug resistant bacteria was detected. No covariate was associated with pathogen colonization. After sanitization, 8.9% of mobile phones were sterilized, and colonization with pathogenic bacteria decreased (21.4% vs. 39.3%, p = 0.04) as did the number of CFUs/mL (367 ± 404 vs. 733 ± 356, p < 0.001). Colonization of intensive care unit healthcare workers' and administrative staff's mobile phones was similar. Colonization with pathogens was frequent but colonization with multi-drug resistant bacteria was rare. Disinfecting the phones with bactericidal wipes is not completely effective. Specific sanitization protocols and recommendations regarding the management of healthcare workers' mobile phones in intensive care units should be developed. Additionally, good hand hygiene after touching mobile phones should be kept in mind to prevent cross-infections.


We read with great interest the article by Ho and Jameson in your esteem journal. It is an interesting and unusual case, and we would like to congratulate all the authors for their effort to report such rare cases with high-quality images. However, we would like to add interesting information that you may find useful. The authors had nicely described high-risk factors for the ingestion of foreign bodies. However, we would like to add that psychiatric illness and incarcerated patients are also significant risks factors. Patients in this particular case are not candidates for endoscopic removal. We want to share essential aspects in removing sharp and pointed objects from the gastrointestinal tract through endoscopy. Retrieval is best performed by polypectomy snare, grasping forceps or biliary stone retrieval basket. Besides, alternatively, overture or retractable latex hood can be used to protect the oesophagus and pharynx. The oesophageal location of a sharp foreign body is an emergency and should be removed as early as possible. Any site within reach of the endoscope is an indication of the removal of the foreign body. For sharp objects, failure to progress over 3 days is an indication for operative intervention.


A random mapping is a random graph where every vertex has outdegree one. Previous work was concerned mostly with a uniform probability distribution on these mappings. In contrast, this investigation assumes a non-uniform model, where different mappings have different probabilities.
An important application is the analysis of a factorization heuristic due to Pollard and Brent. The model involved is a random mapping where every vertex has indegree either 0 or d. This distribution belongs to a class called permutation invariant. A study of the general properties of permutation invariant mappings combined with the analysis of this particular distribution made possible the computation of the expected running time of this factorization method, settling an open conjecture of Pollard.


Tanzania adopted an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy in 1998 in order to strengthen its infectious disease surveillance system. During that time, the country had 5 separate surveillance systems to monitor infectious disease trends and disease control programmes. The systems included the Health Management Information System (HMIS); Infectious Disease Week Ending; Tuberculosis/Leprosy; Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; and Acute Flaccid Paralysis/Poliomyelitis). An assessment of the surveillance systems in the country has shown inadequacy in the use of standard case definitions and laboratory confirmation of cases, supervision and feedback as well as data collection tools. Moreover, in some of the existing vertical disease surveillance programmes, the epidemiological data generated were neither fully analyzed nor utilized at district level, but rather were forwarded to higher levels, which hardly provided any feedback to the lower levels. For these and other reasons, the Ministry of Health adopted the IDSR strategy that will focus on selected priority diseases. Although a significant progress has been made as far as the IDSR strategy is concerned, its implementation is facing several challenges. This is due to the fact that the current surveillance system has to utilize the existing HMIS system in collecting and compiling epidemiological data from health facility and district levels. This paper intends to discuss in detail challenges, which the Ministry of Health and district councils have to take into consideration during the implementation of IDSR strategy. Recommendations are also made for possible adoption to enable smooth running of the IDSR strategy at the national, district and facility levels. Tanzania Health Research Bulletin Vol.6(2) 2004: 57-63


The authors present a specific modelling method using 2D field calculations which can be used to study a system composed of different electromagnetic structures which are electrically and mechanically coupled. The interactions between the structures can be studied in the magnetodynamic field by coupling the magnetic, electrical and mechanical equations. The method is applied to a line-start permanent magnet drive composed of a PM synchronous machine and an induction machine whose phase windings are series connected. The skewing of rotor bars is modelled by using the multi-slice 2D method. The performance of the modelling method is validated by comparing the simulated and experimental results.


This article poses the question: Is elder abuse and neglect a social problem, showing that it is. Elder abuse, though, is still the most hidden form of mistreatment and a key to governmental responses to an ageing population. It is an important facet as a family violence problem, an intergenerational concern, as well as a health, justice and human rights issue. Because the phenomenon of elder abuse and neglect is so complex and multi-dimensional, it has to be addressed by multi-professional and inter-disciplinary approaches. Raising awareness is a fundamental prevention strategy and an important step in causing changes in attitudes and behaviors. This has been accomplished by INPEA and the article was developed from the lecture given by the author on receiving the International Rosalie Wolf Award from INPEA. The discussion focuses on elder abuse as a product of global ageing, stemming from population ageing, which is consistent with an increased prevalence of abuse of all vulnerable groups, older people among them. It is pointed out that baseline and trend data on the nature and prevalence of senior abuse are crucial to policy responses and the development of appropriate programs and services. Difficulties in assessing the scope of the phenomenon, though, are due to: problems in definitions and methodology, which create difficulties in comparing data from various countries; lack of social and familial awareness; isolation of some elders, especially migrants; elder abuse as a 'hidden issue' that usually occurs in the privacy of the home and is viewed as a family affair; limited access to institutional settings. Difficulties also exist in constructing a unifying research framework in order to study the phenomenon due to a lack of comparison groups, a lack of representative national surveys and difficulties in measurement. There is currently, however, an increase in prevalence and incidence studies from both sides of the Atlantic and especially from Europe. But while prevalence studies provide base-data on numbers, little is known about key conceptual issues for policy, practice and the understanding of different forms of abuse and neglect. Theoretical under-development hampers the collection of systematic cumulative knowledge which is based on universally agreed upon and standardized tools, and reduces the ability to discover unifying themes and their relationship to local idiosyncrasies existing in the field. Additionally, there has been no attempt to develop theoretical knowledge grounded in data from the study of elder abuse itself. The following vehicles for action are, thus, suggested: Developing international, national and regional research agendas and data bases; developing policy and legislation; developing services and interventions and developing educational programs.


Flavivirus comprises globally emerging and re-emerging pathogens such as Zika virus (ZIKV), Dengue virus (DENV), and West Nile virus (WNV), among others. Although some vaccines are available, there is an unmet medical need as no effective antiviral treatment has been approved for flaviviral infections. The development of host-directed antivirals (HDAs) targeting host factors that are essential for viral replication cycle offers the opportunity for the development of broad-spectrum antivirals. In the case of flaviviruses, recent studies have revealed that neutral sphingomyelinase 2, (nSMase2), involved in lipid metabolism, plays a key role in WNV and ZIKV infection. As a proof of concept, we have determined the antiviral activity of the non-competitive nSMase2 inhibitor DPTIP against WNV and ZIKV virus. DPTIP showed potent antiviral activity with EC50 values of 0.26 µM and 1.56 µM for WNV and ZIKV, respectively. In order to unravel the allosteric binding site of DPTIP in nSMase2 and the details of the interaction, computational studies have been carried out. These studies have revealed that DPTIP could block the DK switch in nSMase2. Moreover, the analysis of the residues contributing to the binding identified His463 as a crucial residue. Interestingly, the inhibitory activity of DPTIP on the H463A mutant protein supported our hypothesis. Thus, an allosteric cavity in nSMase2 has been identified that can be exploited for the development of new inhibitors with anti-flaviviral activity.


The experience of the peritoneal dialysis (PD) successful application in 16 children of an early age was summarized. In all the patients the terminal state with an acute cardiac and renal insufficiency was noted after cardiosurgical operation conduction using artificial blood circulation. The improvement of hemodynamical indices, renal and pulmonary function as well, were promoted by an early application of PD.


Does the devolution of responsibility for service provision to elected local authorities improve the delivery of services to the poor? This is the major challenge of democratic decentralisation and a key benchmark by which its effectiveness should be assessed. Many governments across the developing world are engaged in ambitious efforts to devolve power and resources to local bodies which are increasingly assuming responsibility for managing the delivery of health, education and other essential services to poor people. Decentralised service delivery is now a key determinant of the scope for less-developed countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals since many of these goals are premised on outcomes that are increasingly within the realm of responsibility of elected local governments.


AIM The aim of this research was to identify factors that facilitated successful completion of a prelicensure registered nursing program for African American men. BACKGROUND Successful completion of prelicensure nursing programs by African American men can increase diversity in the nursing profession. Further investigation is needed to understand the factors that can lead to success in completing prelicensure programs. METHOD An explanatory, multiple-case study design was used to explore the personal characteristics, perspectives, and life events of African American men who completed prelicensure nursing programs. RESULTS The five factors that influenced success were establishing goals, securing financial resources, maintaining family as a support system, meeting academic expectations, and developing a sense of belonging. CONCLUSION Recommendations for how nurse educators can implement strategies to promote success for this population of students are discussed.


We tested the hypothesis that particulate organic matter (POM) and aggregate dry mean weight diameter (DMWD) are related to fertilizer-use efficiency (FUE) and leaching susceptibility. Soil cores (15 cm diam. by 50 cm depth) were collected from 12 farm fields representing three cropping systems: conventional (CT) and no-tillage (NT) management of corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotations, and CT applied to more diversified corn-soybeanbased rotations (R-CT). Three of the four R-CT farms were organically managed. In a 95-d greenhouse trial, cores were seeded with corn, amended with 15 N-labeled urea applied at four rates (0, 75, 150, 225 kg N ha -1 ), and subjected to a stressful moisture regime. Aggregate DMWD, which serves as a rough index of pore-size distribution, was greater in NT cores. Although total leached N was similar in all cropping systems, increased macropore flow in NT cores led to greater leaching of fertilizer N and less leaching of soil-derived N, as well as greater moisture stress and decreased plant N uptake. The R-CT cores had more POM and organic C in the top 30 cm of soil and higher crop biomass and biomass-N content. However, FUE in R-CT cores was relatively low since FUE does not account for contributions of indigenous N. For the same reason, FUE remained relatively high in CT systems despite less labile organic matter. Both FUE and SOM conservation declined with increasing N application rates. Increasing labile sources of N, reflected in POM pools, through crop diversification can substitute for incremental increases in fertilizer N and improve long-term productivity on Illinois Mollisols.


Background Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) seems to be as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of major depression. Because the onset of panic attacks is often related to increased interpersonal life stress, IPT has the potential to also treat panic disorder. To date, a preliminary open trial yielded promising results but there have been no randomized controlled trials directly comparing CBT and IPT for panic disorder. Method This study aimed to directly compare the effects of CBT versus IPT for the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Ninety-one adult patients with a primary diagnosis of DSM-III or DSM-IV panic disorder with agoraphobia were randomized. Primary outcomes were panic attack frequency and an idiosyncratic behavioral test. Secondary outcomes were panic and agoraphobia severity, panic-related cognitions, interpersonal functioning and general psychopathology. Measures were taken at 0, 3 and 4 months (baseline, end of treatment and follow-up). Results Intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses on the primary outcomes indicated superior effects for CBT in treating panic disorder with agoraphobia. Per-protocol analyses emphasized the differences between treatments and yielded larger effect sizes. Reductions in the secondary outcomes were equal for both treatments, except for agoraphobic complaints and behavior and the credibility ratings of negative interpretations of bodily sensations, all of which decreased more in CBT. Conclusions CBT is the preferred treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia compared to IPT. Mechanisms of change should be investigated further, along with long-term outcomes.


Context. The size and chemical composition of interstellar dust grains are critical in setting the dynamical, physical, and chemical evolution of all the media in which they are present. Thanks to facilities such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and, in the future, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), thermal emission in the (sub)millimetre to centimetre domain has become a very convenient way to trace grain properties.
Aims. Our aim is to understand the influence of the composition and size distribution of dust grains on the shape of their spectral energy distribution (peak position, spectral index) in dense interstellar regions such as molecular clouds, prestellar cores, young stellar objects, and protoplanetary discs.
Methods. Starting from the optical constants defined in The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model for Interstellar Solids (THEMIS) for amorphous hydrogenated carbon grains and amorphous silicates in addition to water ice, we defined six material mixtures that we believe are representative of the expected dust composition in dense interstellar regions. The optical properties of 0.01 μm to 10 cm grains were then calculated with effective medium and Mie theories. The corresponding spectral energy distributions were subsequently calculated for isolated clouds either externally heated by the standard interstellar radiation field alone or in addition to an internal source.
Results. The three main outcomes of this study are as follows. Firstly, the dust mass absorption coefficient strongly depends on both grain composition and size distribution potentially leading to errors in dust mass estimates by factors up to ~3 and 20, respectively. Secondly, it appears almost impossible to retrieve the grain composition from the (sub)millimetre to centimetre thermal emission shape alone as its spectral index for λ ≳ 3 mm does not depend on dust composition. Thirdly, using the "true" dust opacity spectral index to estimate grain sizes may lead to erroneous findings as the observed spectral index can be highly modified by the dust temperature distribution along the line of sight, which depends on the specific heating source and on the geometry of the studied interstellar region.
Conclusions. Based on the interpretation of only the spectral shape of (sub)millimetre to centimetre observational data, the determination of the dust masses, compositions, and sizes are highly uncertain.


This paper sets out to ask how cultural workers on Scottish islands come to narrate their work and everyday life experiences. We ask this question in the context of two dominant doctrines that can influence whether or not these experiences are "good or bad." The first doctrine describes attitudes toward creativity with reference to current discussions around cultural work and the idea of "creative." The second doctrine highlights conceptions of islands as unique places with pastoral characteristics that need to be fostered and promoted. It is our contention that island cultural workers must continuously negotiate with these two frameworks in order to successfully achieve good work. If the negotiation is fraught with difficulties, the cultural worker will ultimately leave either this form of work or the island. For the purpose of this paper we focus on the narratives of two cultural workers located on two different Scottish islands to highlight the ways their particular narratives engage with the doctrines of creativity and islandness.


There are many kinds of Ecological-type revetment, including types of Natural vegetation, Masonry, Eco-Concrete and so on. What is more, the engineering characteristics, economic cost, suitable condition of application are all different. Therefore we should choose appropriate types of ecological-type revetment in the construction of river channel for small cities and towns. This article includes the overview of the progress of ecological-type revetment rectification measures, the types and characteristics of ecological-type revetment. Selection principles of economics, security, aesthetics as well as the consideration of the idea of harmonious coexistence between man and water in ecological-type revetment construction are proposed.


Some of ternary materials in the Ti-Al-C system are called MAX-phases and are characterised by heterodesmic layer structure. Their specific structure consisting of covalent and metallic chemical bonds influence its semi-ductile features locating them on the boundary between metals and ceramics, which may lead to many potential applications, for example as a part of a ceramic armour. Ti2AlC is one of this nanolaminate materials. Self-propagating High-temperature Synthesis (SHS) was applied to obtain sinterable powders of Ti2AlC Utilization of heat produced in exothermal reaction in adiabatic conditions to sustain process until all substrates are transformed into product is one of the advantages of the method that result in low energy consumption and low cost combined with high efficiency. Different substrates were used to produce fine powders of ternary material. Phase compositions of obtained powder were examined by XRD method. Than selected powders were used for sintering in various temperature both in a presureless sintering and hot-pressing in argon atmosphere. Properties and phase composition of obtained products were examined.


Mobile money is playing a critical role in promoting financial inclusion in developing countries. Simultaneously, continued price declines are placing entry-level smartphones within reach of a rapidly increasing fraction of the global population. In addition, many of the unbanked live in urban or peri-urban regions where wireless network coverage is good and/or rapidly improving with continued wireless network infrastructure build-outs. This paper addresses the intersection of these trends, which provides both opportunities and challenges. The opportunity lies in using the interface and options available in a smartphone to provide mobile money solutions that are more flexible, more accessible to persons with a wide range of literacy levels, and more secure than solutions based on traditional "feature" phones. The challenge, which the work described in this paper aims to address, lies in actually designing the interfaces and architectures to provide these solutions.Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2632372.


Background Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease with an average life expectancy of 2–4 years. The anti-fibrotic agents Nintedanib and Pirfenidone slow disease progression, and are routinely prescribed by specialist ILD centres. Choice of agent is guided by patient and physician preference, and potential tolerance of side effects. Our centre has prescribed Nintedanib since March 2015, and Pirfenidone since 2013. Objectives To identify the reasons driving a change of anti-fibrotic from Pirfenidone to Nintedanib, and the frequency of reported side effects and specialist nursing input before and after the switch. Methods This retrospective study examined patients who had been switched from Pirfenidone to Nintedanib (March 2015–July 2016), including patients with >1 month duration of each agent. Data was taken from patient records including nursing advice via the ILD nurse-led helpline. Results We identified 16 patients, with a mean duration of Pirfenidone 9 (1–30) months prior to the switch, and 8 (2–15) months Nintedanib use. Average age 73 (65–84) years, male:female 14:2, definite: probable IPF 11:5, median duration since IPF diagnosis 27 (8–65) months, median %FVC 75 (62–90) at initiation of Pirfenidone, and 68 (53–85) %FVC at initiation of Nintedanib. Rationale for switch. Disease progression (n = 5): decline in FVC ≥ 10% over one year (n = 3), acute exacerbation (n = 2). Intolerable side effects (n = 11): fatigue (3), diarrhoea (2), nausea(2),appetite or weight loss (2), skin rash (1), mood disturbance (1). Impact of switch on side effects and nursing contact. In 9 months before the switch, 13 patients made 1.5 (mean) calls (range 1–3) to the ILD helpline for advice on Pirfenidone side effect management. After the switch, over 8 months, 3 patients made 2 (mean) contacts (range 1–3) for Nintedanib related side effects (diarrhoea). Of 5 patients switched to Nintedanib for disease progression, 3 had follow up for six months, showing >10% improvement in the%FVC (n = 1), stability (n = 1), persistent mild decline ( < 5%) %FVC (n = 1). Conclusions This study illustrates the potential of Nintedanib as an alternative for those who have disease progression despite Pirfenidone; there is good tolerance to Nintedanib with none of this cohort having to stop treatment due to side effects.


Parenteral strobilation of Echinococcus multilocularis was observed in acid (severe combined immuno-deficient) mice after intracerebral, subcutaneous and intraperitoneal inoculation with protoscoleces. Evaginated protoscoleces and segmented worms were obtained at the inoculated sites. Most worms recovered from peritoneal cavity of scid mice were encapsulated by connective tissue and granulocytes but showed a maximum of 3 proglottids, elongation of genital primordia and vesiculation. Viability of worms recovered from the subcutaneous tissue and peritoneal cavity of scid mice were higher (69.1-91.4%) than those from the immunologically normal C.B-17 (4.0-48.0%) control mice. However, viabilities of worms from the cerebrum of both scid and C.B-17 were almost the same (87.7-94.4%). Worms recovered from scid mice showed further development of reproductive organs when transplanted into the small intestine of prednisolone treated golden hamster. These findings suggest that the parenteral milieu of scid mice allows adult development of E. multilocularis protoscoleces.


We study the roots of algorithmic progress in deep policy gradient algorithms through a case study on two popular algorithms: Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) and Trust Region Policy Optimization (TRPO). Specifically, we investigate the consequences of "code-level optimizations:" algorithm augmentations found only in implementations or described as auxiliary details to the core algorithm. Seemingly of secondary importance, such optimizations turn out to have a major impact on agent behavior. Our results show that they (a) are responsible for most of PPO's gain in cumulative reward over TRPO, and (b) fundamentally change how RL methods function. These insights show the difficulty and importance of attributing performance gains in deep reinforcement learning. Code for reproducing our results is available at this https URL .


This brief provides simple tuning rules for the proportional retarded (PR) control of second order systems requiring strong closed-loop damping. A frequency domain analysis allows determining the σ-stabilizability regions of the controller. The analysis provides explicit formulae for tuning the three parameters of the PR controller, namely, the proportional gain, the retarded gain, and the delay. The performance of the PR closed-loop control is experimentally compared with that of a proportional derivative (PD) controller. The experiments show that the PR controller outperforms the PD controller fed using velocity estimates obtained from a high-pass filter in terms of noise amplification, control effort, and position error, and has a similar performance compared with a PD controller supplied with velocity estimates produced by an observer. Numerical implementation of the PR controller is computationally less demanding than the corresponding implementation of PD algorithms using velocity estimation based on filters or observers, since it does not need solving ordinary differential equations and only requires performing two products and a few memory registers for implementing the time delay.


Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) relieves many motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), but its underlying therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Since its advent, three major theories have been proposed: (1) DBS inhibits the STN and basal ganglia output; (2) DBS antidromically activates motor cortex; and (3) DBS disrupts firing dynamics within the STN. Previously, stimulation-related electrical artifacts limited mechanistic investigations using electrophysiology. We used electrical artifact-free GCaMP fiber photometry to investigate activity in basal ganglia nuclei during STN DBS in parkinsonian mice. To test whether the observed changes in activity were sufficient to relieve motor symptoms, we then combined electrophysiological recording with targeted optical DBS protocols. Our findings suggest that STN DBS exerts its therapeutic effect through the disruption of movement-related STN activity, rather than inhibition or antidromic activation. These results provide insight into optimizing PD treatments and establish an approach for investigating DBS in other neuropsychiatric conditions.


The aggregates of faecal pellets that are common components of the topmost part of the Korytnica Clays (Middle Miocene; Holy Cross Mountains, Central Poland) are attributed to polychaetes, presumably related closely to the present-day species Heteromastus filiformis (Claparede). As a direct relationship to the latter species has not however been displayed, these faecal pellets are put into ichnological taxonomy and, consequently, a new ichnospecies is established. Tibikoia sanctacrucensis ichnosp. n. A comparison of ecological requirements of the faeces-producing . polychaete species with its present-day analogues. supports and/or modifies some conclusions on the environmental conditions under which the topmost part of the Korytnica Clays was deposited.


From the end of 1989 to 1997, over 710 thousand Russian Jews emigrated to Israel, increasing Israel-s working-age population by 15 percent. This paper argues that a canonical one-sector neoclassical growth model explains both the short run and the medium run response of Israel,s economy to this shock. Specifically, we show that average effective wages of native Israelis fell and the return to capital increased during the height of the influx in 1990 and 1991. By 1997 however, both average wages and the return to capital had returned to pre-immigration levels due to an investment boom induced by the initial increase in the return to capital. As predicted by an intertemporal model of the current account, the investment boom was largely financed by external borrowing. Furthermore, despite the high educational levels of the Russian immigrants, the Russian influx did not lower the skill-premia of native Israelis. We show that this result is not explained by Rybczynski-type output composition changes but because the Russian immigrants suffered from substantial occupational downgrading in Israel and thus did not change the relative supply of skilled workers in Israel.


The ever growing trend towards miniaturisation means that manufacturing technology has to change from using routine engineering to nanometre scale metrology and beyond. Some of the implications of this will be discussed. Central to this change is the development, operation and properties of scanning probe microscopes and in particular the atomic force microscope. The nature and integrity of what these instruments reveal will be investigated and will be related to traditional measurements. The discussion will suggest that the major problem is still the quantitative understanding of the interaction between the sample and the probe. Also, it will be demonstrated that a new requirement is the need to more closely interlock macro- and nanometrology in order to cater for the exact specifications of the freeform geometrical components now emerging to meet the future engineering and physical challenges. Background is given where appropriate.


Abstract The Fenestella Shale Formation of Jammu and Kashmir Himalaya comprises latest Viséan or Serpukhovian siliciclastic deposits formed along the southern margins of the Palaeotethys Ocean. A sequence of shallowing upward and deepening upward units indicates changes from shoreface to offshore and deeper shelf conditions, probably controlled by eustatic changes in an otherwise passive depositional system. Some of the finer-grained, shallow marine deposits have yielded fossil floras dominated by sub-arborescent lycopsids (Sublepidodendron, Lepidodendropsis) sphenophytes (Archaeocalamites) and pteridophylls (Nothorhacopteris, Triphyllopteris). The assemblage compares with other Gondwanan floras of this age that have been assigned to the Paraca floral realm, and are taken to indicate relatively warm climatic conditions that existed just prior to the onset of the Carboniferous–Permian ice-age.


The purpose of this contribution is twofold: 1) to present for the first time a Lyapunov function that proves exponential ergodicity of a process studied by the authors in [1], where the problem of controlling the probability density of a swarm of robotic agents was solved; 2) to introduce alongside the method used to construct this Lyapunov function, which is of interest in its own since it may be applicable to a wide class of piecewise-deterministc Markov processes. Our method searches for the Lyapunov function that maximizes a measure of the rate of convergence that appears in the theory of large deviations. Analytical solutions are often possible as shown by examples.


. The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of objects in interactive innovation, i.e. interaction for innovation among core inside innovators, peripheral inside innovators and outside innovators. Going beyond the predom-inant usage of 'boundary objects' we argue that a pluralistic approach of objects is needed to better understand and trace the different – and shifting – roles that objects play in interactive innovation. To do so, we develop a framework of the role of objects in interactive innovation. This framework is applied while designing the "IP Industry Base" (IPIB) project for interactive innovation. The IPIB is an innovative analytical database in the field of competitive intelligence (CI). From the lessons learned in this project, we discuss what needs to be considered for the conscious development of objects to foster interactive innovation in the context of highly innovative software development projects.


Machine Learning (ML) techniques have been employed for the high energy physics (HEP) community since the early 80s to deal with a broad spectrum of problems. This work explores the prospects of using Deep Learning techniques to estimate elliptic flow ($v_2$) in heavy-ion collisions at the RHIC and LHC energies. A novel method is developed to process the input observables from particle kinematic information. The proposed DNN model is trained with Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV minimum bias events simulated with AMPT model. The predictions from the ML technique are compared to both simulation and experiment. The Deep Learning model seems to preserve the centrality and energy dependence of $v_2$ for the LHC and RHIC energies. The DNN model is also quite successful in predicting the $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of $v_2$. When subjected to event simulation with additional noise, the proposed DNN model still keeps the robustness and prediction accuracy intact up to a reasonable extent.


This paper presents results on wave overtopping and loading on an innovative caisson breakwater for electricity production. The work reported here contributes to the European Union FP6 priority 6.1 (Sustainable Energy System). The design of the structure consists of three reservoirs one on the top of each other to optimize the storage of potential energy in the overtopping water. The wave loadings on the main structure can be estimated using experiences from breakwater design, but the differences between the structures is so large that more reliable knowledge is needed. Model tests were carried out to measure wave loadings and overtopping rates using realistic random 2D and 3D wave conditions; the model scale used was 1:60 of the SSG pilot at the selected location in the island of Kvitsoy, Norway. Pressure transducers were placed in order to achieve information on impact/pulsating loadings while in a second phase the model has been adapted and equipped with pumps to measure the overtopping flow rates in the single reservoirs. The results of the tests highlight differences between 2D and 3D conditions in terms of pressures and hydraulic efficiency.


The paper presents an approach to partial mapping of a web sub-graph. This sub-graph contains the nearest surroundings of the actual web page. Our work deals with acquiring relevant Hyperlinks of a base web site, generation of adjacency matrix, the nearest distance matrix and matrix of converted distances of Hyperlinks, detection of compactness of web representation, and visualization of its graphical representation. The paper introduces an LWP algorithm – a technique for Hyperlink filtration. This work attempts to help users with the orientation within the web graph.


Stuttering is a speech disorder that begins during the first years of life and is among the most prevalent of developmental disorders. It appears to be a problem with neural processing of speech involving genetics. Onset typically occurs during the first years of life, shortly after language development begins. Clinical presentation during childhood is interrupted and effortful speech production, often with rapid onset. If not corrected during early childhood, it becomes intractable and can cause psychological, social, educational and occupational problems. There is evidence from replicated clinical trials to support early intervention during the pre‐school years. Meta‐analysis of studies indicates that children who receive early intervention during the pre‐school years are 7.7 times more likely to have resolution of their stuttering. Early intervention is recommended with a speech pathologist. Some children who begin to stutter will recover without such intervention. However, the number of such recoveries is currently not known, and it is not possible to predict which children are likely to recover naturally. Consequently, the current best practice is for speech pathologists to monitor children for signs of natural recovery for up to 1 year before beginning treatment.


There is some evidence that loudness judgments of speech are more closely related to the degree of vocal effort induced in speech production than to the speech signal's surface-acoustic properties such as intensity. Other researchers have claimed that speech loudness can be rationalized simply by considering the acoustic complexity of the signal. Because vocal effort can be specified optically as well as acoustically, a study to test the effort-loudness hypothesis was conducted that used conflicting audiovisual presentations of a speaker that produced consonant-vowel syllables with different efforts. It was predicted that if loudness judgments are constrained by effort perception rather than by simple acoustic parameters, then judgments ought to be affected by visual as well as auditory information. It is shown that loudness judgments are affected significantly by visual information even when subjects are instructed to base their judgments only on what they hear. A similar (though less pronounced) patterning of results is shown for a nonspeech "clapping" event, which attests to the generality of the loudness-effort effect previously thought to be special to speech. Results are discussed in terms of auditory, fuzzy logical, motor, and ecological theories of speech perception.


The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will perform a two-year survey of nearly the entire sky, with the main goal of detecting exoplanets smaller than Neptune around bright and nearby stars. There do not appear to be any fundamental obstacles to continuing science operations for at least several years after the two-year Primary Mission. To provide a head start to those who will plan and propose for such a mission, we present simulations of exoplanet detections in a third year of TESS operations. Our goal is to provide a helpful reference for the exoplanet-related aspects of any Extended Mission, while recognizing this will be only one part of a larger community discussion of the scientific goals. We use Monte Carlo simulations to try and anticipate the quantities and types of planets that would be detected in each of 6 plausible scenarios for a one-year Extended Mission following the two-year Primary Mission. We find that: (1) there is no sharp fall-off in the planet discovery rate in the third year; (2) the quantity of newly detected sub-Neptune radius planets does not depend strongly on the schedule of pointings; (3) an important function of an Extended Mission would be improving our ability to predict the times of future transits and occultations of TESS-detected planets.


Background
Subspecialty training is a common part of orthopedic surgical training. The factors which influence resident subspecialty choice have important residency design and workforce implications. Our objective was to present survey data gathered from orthopedic residents regarding their fellowship plans and relative importance of factors which influence those plans.

Methods
An anonymous online survey tool was developed and distributed to orthopedic residents through their program directors at academic institutions across the country with orthopedic surgery residency programs.

Results
227 residents completed the survey. 97% planned to pursue fellowship training after residency. The most common presumptive subspecialties were sports (29.7%), joints (17.3%) and shoulder/ elbow (12.8%). The majority of senior residents (57%) reported that their subspecialty choice had changed during residency. When making their choice of subspecialty, residents were most influenced by their experiences working on the subspecialty service in question, their experiences working with a mentor, and intellectual interest. The factors influencing their choice were affected by gender, residency year and presumptive subspecialty.

Conclusions
The most critical factors influencing subspecialty choice of orthopedic residents included experiences in rotations as a resident, intellectual interest and mentors in certain subspecialties. Factors influencing subspecialty choice changes over the course of residency and differ between male and female residents. This information may be useful for residency design, mentorship structuring, career counseling and for addressing subspecialty surpluses or shortages which arise in the future.Level of Evidence: IV.


The growing incidence of global lung cancer cases against successful treatment modalities has increased the demand for the development of innovative strategies to complement conventional chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. The substitution of chemotherapeutics by naturally occurring phenolic compounds has been touted as a promising research endeavor, as they sideline the side effects of current chemotherapy drugs. However, the therapeutic efficacy of these compounds is conventionally lower than that of chemotherapeutic agents due to their lower solubility and consequently poor intracellular uptake. Therefore, we report herein a hydrophobically modified chitosan nanoparticle (pCNP) system for the encapsulation of protocatechuic acid (PCA), a naturally occurring but poorly soluble phenolic compound, for increased efficacy and improved intracellular uptake in A549 lung cancer cells. The pCNP system was modified by the inclusion of a palmitoyl group and physico-chemically characterized to assess its particle size, Polydispersity Index (PDI) value, amine group quantification, functional group profiling, and morphological properties. The inclusion of hydrophobic palmitoyl in pCNP-PCA was found to increase the encapsulation of PCA by 54.5% compared to unmodified CNP-PCA samples whilst it only conferred a 23.4% larger particle size. The single-spherical like particles with uniformed dispersity pCNP-PCA exhibited IR bands, suggesting the successful incorporation of PCA within its core, and a hydrophobic layer was elucidated via electron micrographs. The cytotoxic efficacy was then assessed by using an MTT cytotoxicity assay towards A549 human lung cancer cell line and was compared with traditional chitosan nanoparticle system. Fascinatingly, a controlled release delivery and enhanced therapeutic efficacy were observed in pCNP-PCA compared to CNP, which is ascribed to lower IC50 values in the 72-h treatment in the pCNP system. Using the hydrophobic system, efficacy of PCA was significantly increased in 24-, 48-, and 72-h treatments compared to a single administration of the compound, and via the unmodified CNP system. Findings arising from this study exhibit the potential of using such modified nanoparticulate systems in increasing the efficacy of natural phenolic compounds by augmenting their delivery potential for better anti-cancer responses.


When crop plants are subjected to soil waterlogging, or an anaerobic condition, their root and shoot systems respond differently. A variety of morphological and anatomical alterations develop in the root system. Reduction of the root respiration rate has been reported in both flooding-tolerant and intolerant species. Besides alcoholic fermentation, several diverse fermentative bypasses take place, which ameliorate the poisoning through excessive accumulation of specific metabolic intermediates. Root systems starved of oxygen are also poor providers of mineral nutrients for both themselves and the shoot systems. Stomatal closure and non-stomatal metabolic alterations are responsible for the reduction of leaf CO2 incorporation. Plant hormones are much involved in regulation of these physiological adaptations.


The present study examined the role of neuroticism and extraversion in the effects of written emotional disclosure in patients diagnosed with gynaecological cancer. It was hypothesized that high levels of neuroticism would be associated with an increase in distress after emotional disclosure as mediated by heightened negative affect and avoidance post-disclosure. Conversely, we expected high extraversion to be associated with decreased distress as mediated by heightened positive moods and a decrease in avoidance. Eighty-eight participants were randomly assigned to participate in an expressive writing task versus a control writing task. Distress and avoidance were assessed at baseline and 6 months post-writing. Negative and positive mood were assessed immediately following writing. Multiple regression confirmed that neuroticism but not extraversion moderates the effects of emotional disclosure on distress, however no significant mediating relationships were found.


BACKGROUND
The specialized medical assistance knowledge improved in hospitals since the introduction of Clinical Documentation Services, but hardly anything is known about outpatient assistance, specially in otolaryngology.

METHODS
In order to find out this information, during 1992 last quarter, we sampled 20 days of outpatient consult, studying the following variables in patients visited: age, sex, diagnosis, diagnostic-therapeutic procedures and motives for hospital attention.

RESULTS
In the sample first visits are 63% and second visits 37%. Only 7.5% of patients were sent to hospital and we refer the diagnosis cause. In 5.6% of cases we couldn't establish any diagnosis, the 47% of cases presented otologic pathology and the rest 47% belonged to rhinologic pathology, pharyngeal and laryngeal troubles. The frequency of diagnosis were different in age groups. In 25% of patients diagnostic-therapeutic procedures were done.

CONCLUSIONS
This study supplies us interesting information about the features of ENT outpatient assistance respect sex and age, more frequent diagnostics, procedures and causes for hospital attention.


Response surface methodology was used to optimize the activated carbon iodine absorption value screened by Placket-Burman design. Six effective factors such as NaOH concentrations, boiling time, liquid ratio, calcined ways, calcined time and calcined temperature were tested by using Placket-Burman design criterion and three effective factors NaOH concentrations, liquid ratio and calcined time showed significant effect(P<0.05) on iodine absorption value. By applying Box-Behnken design, the optimized condition obtained NaOH concentrations of 2.5mol/l, liquid ratio of 1/1.125 and calcined time of 37.5min. Three runs of additional confirmation experiments were conducted. The average relative error was 0.58%.


In this paper, we present some remarks on the correlations between s and w domains when a discrete-time transfer function is converted from z-plane by using the w-transform. With time response specifications, when a digital filter or controller is designed in z-plane, the w-transform is useful for the purpose if only the w-transformed system closely approximates to the continuous-time system. It will be shown that the approximation is accomplished only in the specific region depending on sampling time. Also, it is noted that such an approximation should be carefully dealt with for the case where a discrete-time reference transfer function is synthesized for the use of direct digital design.